Dale Keown Hulk Chalk Art Mural

by Eric

Early on in my chalk art career, before I ever attended any comic conventions like Wizard World or New York Comic Con, I hit up art festivals and art walks as a way to display my street art. And really that is how it begins for any street painter, you get down on the street and you create something, all the while hoping that no one tells you you’re not allowed to do this before you are done. At least the art festivals would close a street so we could work.

I always had one fear, and that was whether or not people would actually think what I was doing WAS art. Most street artists recreate renaissance paintings or religious imagery. More recently the 3d optical illusion street art has hit it big. But no one at these shows was recreating comic book illustrations, and even though I think it is a vastly under appreciated art form with some of the best illustrators working today, I didn’t know if the general public would agree with me on that.

So it was that I undertook recreating a Dale Keown illustration of The Incredible Hulk at one such art festival. Dale has always been a personal favorite of mine, and his pencil work is absolutely amazing to see. However, unless someone read his run on The Incredible Hulk in the early 90’s, or were familiar with his book Pitt from Image Comics, they probably never heard of him, so I didn’t have any real name recognition to go one while others tried to recreate Norman Rockwell or Leonardo Da Vinci.

After some minor rain interruptions I got to work, and quickly found that I had nothing to worry about. It was a huge hit with kids, and I found that it drew adults in almost as much. I learned just how much Marvel Comics characters have worked their way into the cultural landscape that weekend.

Below is my gallery of images, enjoy… and remember comments are always appreciated.